Chapter 51: «Lagom»

May 15, 1987, Chicago, Illinois

"Another year done!" Kara exclaimed when I came home from work.

"One more to go, and then you start on your Master's."

"I also start on our baby soon!" she said happily. "But Elyse looks like she's going to burst!"

I chuckled, "Tell me about it! She complained that all she does is go to school, eat, and pee."

"She just has to hang in there for a couple more weeks!" Kara said. "I assume you have everything arranged?"

"Of course. My bag is packed and sitting just inside the walk-in closet. We're going to UofC, so it's close. She used the same OB/GYN as Jennifer."

"I know. That makes three of us. I switched once Jennifer told me how good Doctor Robertson was."

"I think Doctor Robertson is going to have some interesting things to say to me!"

"I think Doctor Robertson will want to find out exactly why four women are coming to you to get pregnant!" Kara giggled.

"She's old enough to be our mom, Honey! Is everything ready for tonight? Elyse usually handles all the details, but she's obviously in no condition to do that at this point!"

"Elyse is a bit grumpy, isn't she?"

"You will be, too, at that point in your pregnancy. Jennifer was. So, is there anything that needs to be done?"

"No. Everyone will be here around 7:00pm. All you have to do is dance with cute girls!"

"You and Jess!" I grinned.

"And Penny! And Shari! And Leila!"

"Penny?"

"She's eighteen now, and she's going to IIT in the Fall. Alice will let her come to parties now, so long as we promise that she doesn't drink."

"I suppose Effy will be here?" I asked.

"Yes. I'm sorry that she annoys you. I asked her to please behave tonight. I hope she does."

"Me, too." I said.

True to Kara's word, we had just finished cleaning up after dinner when her friends began arriving. Jessica wouldn't arrive until around 8:30pm, so I spent some time talking to Kara's friends. She'd invited fifteen people, and there were a few more girls than guys, which didn't surprise me. Nearly all of them were either chemistry or chemical engineering majors. About 7:20pm she introduced me to a short, cute, perky redhead.

"Steve, this is Shari Kimball. Shari, this is Steve Adams."

"Hi!" she bubbled, extending her hand.

I shook it gently and her green eyes sparkled. She was very different from Kathy, but the red hair and green eyes had a similar effect. Where Kathy was a few inches shorter than me and athletic, Shari was a good eight inches shorter and curvier and softer. Like Kathy, she had mischief in her eyes and a stunning smile. If what Kara had suggested was true, and Jessica gave permission, I might actually decide to sample Shari's charms.

"Hi!" Penny said, neatly stepping between me and Shari.

"Hi, Penny!" I said. "You still have almost two more weeks of school, right?"

"Yes," she grumped. "But I don't have to take finals for any class because I have all A's!"

"Great! I'll be at your graduation as promised. But you interrupted a conversation, Penelope Margaret!"

"Uh-huh," she said, looking warily at me and giving Shari an evil look.

Penny was jealous! I suppressed a laugh that would have thoroughly pissed her off as she directed her look to me, then moved over to talk to Elyse, who was sitting in an easy chair in the great room. When the rest of the guests arrived, we headed up to the attic room. I talked with some of the guys, including Zane, who I'd met before.

Zane and Kara had met in their very first chemistry class and were taking most of their core courses together. He seemed like a nice enough guy, and I found out that he and Kelly, another of Kara's friends, were dating. They'd met through Kara and discovered that they had some common interests and started going out. Zane was from Houston, Texas, and his dad was in the Army. While I was talking to him, Penny came up to me and asked me to dance. I excused myself and took Penny in my arms to dance to The Glory of Love by Peter Cetera.

"What's with the redhead?" she whispered as we danced close.

"She's a friend of Kara's. I just met her when you tried to step between us!"

"She had this look in her eyes like she wanted you!" Penny growled.

"Penelope Margaret O'Neil! You're jealous! What happened to Ned?"

"I'm still going out with him! We haven't quite gotten to the best part yet, but he's a good kisser, has gentle fingers, and he tastes good!"

Penny smirked and licked her lips provocatively.

"It sounds like you're close," I said.

She giggled, "If he kisses as well down there as he does my lips, then he'll get to experience the best there is!"

She rubbed her body against mine and pulled me tight to make sure I knew exactly what she meant.

"I never had any complaints at all!" I said.

"Of course not!" she whispered in my ear.

We finished our dance, and I went over to stand by Kara, who had a silly smile on her face.

"Penny making another play?" she asked quietly.

"No. She let me know that she was jealous, but then told me that she and Ned are having fun. She's conflicted, as we knew she would be. But the fact that she and Ned are doing the things they're doing is a good sign."

"I was a bit worried about that diamond, but it looks like you were right about it."

"So it would seem! Dance with me?"

Kara smiled, and we walked out to the center of the room and danced closely to The One That You Love by Air Supply. As always, Kara felt good in my arms. We danced quietly, without talking, just enjoying the feel of each other's body. When the song ended, we got drinks and went to stand by a small group of Kara's friends, including Kelly, Zane, and Shari. All of them were heading home on Saturday and would be back in August. From the conversation, it seemed like all of them were good students, which didn't surprise me.

"Would you want to dance?" Shari asked after the group had been talking for about ten minutes.

"Sure," I said, leading her out to the center of the room where we were joined by Zane and Kelly and one other couple whose names I couldn't remember. We danced carefully to Take Me Home by Phil Collins, with Shari never breaking eye contact with me and smiling the whole time. It made me wonder exactly what Kara had said to Shari. I also wondered what Jessica would say if I asked for permission, should it get to that point.

The next song was Hard Habit to Break by Chicago, and Shari stepped closer. I held her so that our bodies didn't quite touch, trying to keep things from escalating too far, too fast. Shari accepted the limits, and we completed the dance and then went back to stand with Kara and her other friends. I noticed Penny dancing with one of the single guys, and she was dancing a lot closer than I suspected Ned would appreciate, but from my perspective, Penny was eighteen and made her own rules.

"Kara," I said. "Jess should be here in the next fifteen minutes or so. I'm going to go wait for her, if you don't mind."

"That's fine. I have all my friends here!"

I kissed her and left the attic by the elevator, heading to the front porch to sit on the swing and wait for Jessica. She arrived almost exactly on time, and I hurried to her Camaro and hugged and kissed her as she got out of the car.

"Where's our wife?" she asked after we kissed a second time.

"With her friends in the attic room," I said.

I grabbed Jessica's overnight bag, and we went inside and up to our room.

"Did you meet Shari?" Jessica asked, the corner of her lip showing just a hint of a smile.

"I sense a setup!" I chuckled. "Have YOU met Shari?"

"Yes, last weekend when you had your Guys' Night."

"Spill the beans, Babe!"

"Why?" she smirked. "Wouldn't you rather find out?"

"Find out what? Are you and Kara playing some kind of game here? Honestly, this almost feels like what Jennifer and Melanie did back in High School."

"Oh! No, that's not it at all. Neither Kara nor I promised her anything, nor talked about your skills as a lover."

"Then why is she interested in a married man? What's going on, Babe?"

"I promised not to tell, but I guess at this point I need to. Shari was going to go to a fraternity party tonight. She wanted to lose her virginity before she went home. We talked her out of it, saying that a random fraternity guy was a bad idea."

"So you offered stud service?" I said, a note of annoyance in my voice.

"It's not like that," Jessica said defensively. "She's here for the party. We made no promises."

"Then why is she acting the way she is around me?"

"Maybe she likes you. Who knows? But we didn't promise her anything. I swear it, Tiger."

"Do you know WHY she wants to have sex?"

"According to Kara, she's wanted to all year, but was scared of her own shadow. You know, away from home for the first time, wanting to sow some wild oats, that kind of thing. She finally worked up her courage, but Kara dissuaded her from going to a frat party and having some drunken frat boy be her first. It's up to you. If you want to try, go for it. If not, don't. She'll go home to Iowa tomorrow either way."

"And why are you OK with this?" I asked.

"It fits our agreement, she's a nice girl, and you've been extremely well-behaved. You want to, with someone, but you won't ask. It's up to you, Tiger."

I chuckled, "I actually had thought about asking you about a girl I knew back in Milford who's here in Chicago, but decided against it."

"Because you didn't want her, or because you didn't want to ask?"

"In the end, I decided that I didn't want her. It's a long story. She wasn't close back home, and I hadn't seen her in six years or so. We used to tease a lot back when I was in High School, but never moved beyond teasing. She started it up when we ran into each other while I was working and that's all there was to it."

"Well, you aren't actually asking about her, so I don't need to answer. But I'm OK with you being with Shari if you want to."

"Why?" I asked. "Because you made a promise two years ago?"

"No, because Kara is right. Remember our conversation about doing something fun? This would be fun. This is who you are, and doing this every once in a while will keep you properly balanced. I think the Swedish word is «lagom», right?"

I nodded, "It is. Let's go upstairs and I'll take it under advisement. How was your day?"

"Good. Two more weeks and I'm done!"

"I know!" I grinned. "That makes me happy!"

"Me, too!" she said.

We walked out of our room, down the hall, and into the elevator. Twenty seconds later, we exited into the attic room to see Jorge and Stephanie putting on a dance exhibition.

"They're showing off again!" I observed.

"Jess!" Kara said excitedly.

The two girls hugged and exchanged a brief kiss, and I went to get Jessica her 7-Up. I brought it back to her and stood with my wives, apart from the others.

"He made me tell him," Jessica said to Kara.

"Made is such a strong word," I said. "I asked. Jess said you didn't offer Shari anything at all, or talk about my skills or anything. Is that really true?"

"Yes," Kara said. "We just talked her out of getting drunk and screwing some random, drunken frat boy for her first time. I told her there might be a better opportunity here, but I didn't name names. If you want to give her a good first time, go on. If not, don't."

"What about being married?" I asked.

"She'll deal with it or she won't. But you won't know until you try, Snuggle Bear."

"So this really is just putting us in the room together and seeing what happens?"

"Yes," Kara said. "She's a better choice than your Ohio friend, for sure."

I nodded. I still wasn't sure what to do, but starting with another dance was probably right. I waited for the right song, and when Almost Paradise by Mike Reno and Ann Wilson started playing, I took Shari's hand and led her to the dance floor. This time, I pulled her close, but not tight. She responded by putting her head on my chest and slipping her arms around my waist. As the song played, she pulled me tighter to her, and I felt her firm breasts pressing into the bottom of my ribcage.

"You know I'm married," I whispered.

"Uh-huh," she said softly. "But it feels so nice to dance with you. Kara said it was OK to dance with you, even close. I asked her when you went downstairs."

"It feels nice to dance with you, too," I said, squeezing my arms tight for a moment.

She did feel nice, and I found myself wondering what it would be like to be with her.

"And Kara really won't be mad if we're this close?" she asked.

"Kara won't be mad if we got even closer," I chuckled.

"Closer?" she whispered.

I slipped my hands down to her butt and pulled her closer for a few seconds, moved my hips a bit, then moved my hands back up to her shoulders.

"Closer!" I whispered.

"I uh, uh, I don't know," she stammered nervously.

"This is absolutely something you need to be sure about," I said.

"You, uhm, would really, uhm, want to do it with me?" she said, still clearly nervous.

"I'm certainly thinking about it, with our bodies pressed together like this. Do you want to go someplace to talk?"

"Talk?" she asked apprehensively.

"Talk. Nothing more."

"Uhm, sure, I guess."

The song ended, and I released her. I walked over to Kara and Jessica and let them know that Shari and I were going to find a place to talk privately. Kara arched her eyebrow and Jess smirked, but I pointed out that I had said 'talk' and I meant 'talk'. Anything else was off the table until Shari and I talked. They agreed, as I expected they would, and Shari and I rode the elevator down to the first floor. The Indian room was empty, so we went in there. I shut the door, put on some music, and we sat in a couple of the basket chairs.

"So, I know that you're from Iowa and that you're a chemical engineering major, and that you're finishing your Freshman year."

"Yes. When I came to IIT for my campus visit, it was the first time I'd been out of Iowa. My family has a farm outside of Sioux City, and that's pretty much where I grew up. We didn't go too many places, and when we did, it wasn't far from home."

"I'm pretty much the opposite. I was born in California, but I mostly grew up in Milford, Ohio, which is a small town just east of Cincinnati. I've traveled a lot — with my parents when I was little all over the western US, Canada, and Mexico, and then in tenth grade I went to Sweden for a year as an exchange student, and I've gone back there a few times. And I'm going to Russia at the end of July."

"Wow. What do you do for a living?"

"I run my own computer software company."

"Really? But you're like only twenty-four!"

"Yes, really," I said.

I asked about her family and told her about mine, and then we talked about High School, hobbies, sports, and interests.

"So you never had a serious boyfriend in High School?" I asked.

"I wasn't allowed to date one-on-one. I could only go out in a group, or with my parents. That's why I wanted to go to school somewhere away from my parents. It was tough, but I talked them into it because IIT is a great school for chemical engineers. I've always been a bit shy, so I really didn't meet too many people this year. Kara started talking to me in February, and she was my first real friend in Chicago."

"So, what did you usually do during your free time?"

"Mostly, I stayed in my room and read or watched TV. I finally worked up the courage to go to some parties at the end of last semester. I was going to go to one tonight, but Kara talked me out of it."

"Which party?" I asked.

"Alpha Epsilon Pi — the 'Apes'."

The 'Ape House' had the wildest, most unruly parties on campus, with nobody watching out for how much anyone drank. If something bad happened at a party at IIT, the odds were that it was at Alpha Epsilon Pi.